And it shall come to pass, [that] all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
Ver. 7. And it shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee] Thou shalt be a very Magormissabib, a terror to all that are round about thee, so that they shall decline thee and stand aloof off. Resilient a te, they shall leap back from thee (saith the Vulgate translation), as if they had trod upon a snake. Ubi simul hominum mores exprimit, saith Gualther. This is the manner of most people: they measure friendship by profit, and shamefully forsake those in adversity whom they were wont to follow and fawn upon in prosperity. David complains of such dealing, and Ovid, and many others, Tempora si fuerint nubila solus eris. Cum fortuna petit nullus amicus erit.
And say, Nineveh is laid waste] Which most men held impossible, and never looked to have seen such a day. So Rome was called Aurea golden and Aeterna eternal, and the Romans once thought (as it is said Dionysius did) that the monarchy of the world had been tied unto them with chains of adamant. But God confuted their golden dreams by breaking their empire, and giving up their city six different times in one hundred and thirty-nine years into the hands of the barbarians, who exercised therein all kinds of cruelty. Besides that, it is observed that Rome since it became Papal was never besieged by any enemy, but it was taken. The final ruin of it is daily expected, according to that prophecy of St John, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen," Revelation 18:2, and that other of Sibylla before recited,
“ Tota eris in cineres; quasi nunquam Roma fuisses. ”
Who will bemoan her?] Heb. Who will move (his lips) for her. Some perhaps will shake his head or shoot his bolt at her; but none open his mouth to bemoan her. It was the just hand of God to set off all hearts and shut up all mouths from her, that had been so unreasonably merciless and hard hearted, Lamentations 2:13 .
Whence shall I seek comforters for thee?] q.d. So odious thou art that none will do thee that good office; or if they would, so calamitous thou art that no comfort will fasten. For as to sore eyes the gentlest medicine is troublesome, so is comfort ministered to such as are in a hopeless condition. The ear that tasteth words as the mouth doth meat is at such a time embittered and out of taste.